This Week in Sedgwick County

Board of County Commissioners

• Health Director Adrienne Byrne provided a COVID-19 update to the Board of County Commissioners.
• Sedgwick County has a total of 295 COVID-19 cases.
• One-hundred-forty-three residents have recovered from COVID-19.
• Five residents from Sedgwick County have died from COVID-19
• An online dashboard on the County website has launched to track and display daily Sedgwick County COVID-19 data. 
• One-hundred-ten employees from across various departments and divisions have been re-assigned to aid the Health Department with COVID-19 response.
• The Health Department is monitoring and collaborating with the Clearwater Nursing and Rehabilitation Center to ensure the identified virus cluster does not spread.
• Assistant County Manager for Public Safety Rusty Leeds provided a report on emergency operations.
• The County has a three-week supply of personal protection equipment (PPE). 
• The County continues to work with several local vendors to produce protective gowns, cloth masks, and face shields.
• Six-hundred cloth masks are being delivered a week.
• One-thousand-two-hundred to 1,500 gowns are being delivered a week.    
• Many emergency workers have been tested for COVID-19 and all tests have come back negative.
• The County is working with a local hotel to house emergency workers who are self-isolating as a precautionary measure. 
• Deputy County Manager Tim Kaufman gave an update on COVID-19 sample testing.
• SCHD has 1,001 testing kits on-hand at the Health Department.
• One-thousand testing swabs are on-hand.
• There are 5,000 testing swabs on order that should arrive near May 5. 
• The drive-thru testing site was open five times last week. 
• The clinic tested 90 people a day on average this week.
• Testing hours will be extended soon.
• The Board approved receiving $99.6 million in federal funding under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
• Funding must be used to recoup costs related to COVID-19.
• PPE
• The installation of safety measures.
• Deep cleaning of County facilities.
• The hiring of specialized staff.
• Funds are expected soon.
• Spending expenditures will be tracked to provide accountability and to ensure purchases are related to COVID-19 response.
• The Board approved sending an opinion request to Attorney General Derek Schmidt and a letter to Governor Laura Kelly (with copies to legislative leaders) regarding deferring interest on property tax payments for 60 days.

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 View the meeting here: https://youtu.be/Iu2VJZgEJeA

https://sedgwick.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=34&clip_id=4280

For questions, contact Public Information Officer Kate Flavin at (316) 660-9370.